Off the back of the kids company thread ,
It is my opinion the cause behind all charities are extremely worthy
I would love to contribute more
However it is also my opinion that most charities are poorly run and too much money does not reach the intended cause
What would you suggest is the most efficient method of ensuring the money donated arrives to the intended ? |
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Give the money direct.
Go to the recipient and ask what they need and go and buy it so you donate the actual item.
We started our own charity so we had more control as to where the money we raised went.
On shitty days I read the newsletter and it warms my heart that we know where it went and that it actually was of benefit to the people on the receiving end. |
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Not all charities are worthy causes - some are fronts for terrorist activities, others are just self-sustaining money collecting machines that do little or nothing.
I choose very carefully where my donation dollars go.
I always give direct and I always check the provenance of the organisation as far as I can, including a look at their accounts, which are all available on-line. Any I deem to be paying their senior execs too much, or are admin heavy, I rule out. |
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I try and give more hands on now. If I want to donate to a homeless charity I will ask a homeless person what they need. I take and buy my clothes at charity shops. But I had a really good winter coat that I specifically wanted to go straight to someone so I took it somewhere where it was just passed on, I take cats in. I still give to my chosen charities but I'm veering much more to the hands on way |
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I used to be a shop manager for a charity which was charity in own right but had connections to larger organisation...all money raised/donated went directly to activities, support work, meals, trips, legal advice and transportation services run by the charity within a local area.
an amazing group of people to work with and everything went locally...nothing to the larger organisation! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Off the back of the kids company thread ,
It is my opinion the cause behind all charities are extremely worthy
I would love to contribute more
However it is also my opinion that most charities are poorly run and too much money does not reach the intended cause
What would you suggest is the most efficient method of ensuring the money donated arrives to the intended ?"
Why don't you donate to a local children's hospice things that come in useful are sensory toys which play either soft music or have lights.
If you contact them say you would be more happier buying useful toys than giving cash. |
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By *uxom redCouple
over a year ago
Shrewsbury |
"Off the back of the kids company thread ,
It is my opinion the cause behind all charities are extremely worthy
I would love to contribute more
However it is also my opinion that most charities are poorly run and too much money does not reach the intended cause
What would you suggest is the most efficient method of ensuring the money donated arrives to the intended ?"
Volunteer your time.
Volunteering is in my opinion just as good as giving monies.
I do it c |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Some of these suggestions are homeless/poverty specific. There are other charities that need volunteers for their phones, or outreach work.
Check out their annual statements to see how their accounts are run if you want to be sure. Remember that it costs a lot to hire people who can do the job well, and it's often worth the expense. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I do charity accounts for a couple of small, locally run charities. I have found on the whole giving to smaller charities you find out more where your money goes and what it is used for, they also tend to have less overheads so more money spent directly on the cause involved.
You can look at charity accounts in the charity commission website and see the breakdowns of where the overall money goes and decide from there, or as other poster have said give directly, I.e. to a homeless person, be that money, clothing, coffee etc.
Some coffee chains now also do a pay it on system where you can buy an extra coffee and if a honeless person goes in and asks they can have that hot drink. Just one example, there are lots of other schemes to cover different types of charities and needs like this around. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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You can give your donations as 'restricted funds' with a requirement for how they may use it.
They may choose not to accept it if so, but if they do they must use it as promised. |
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I'm involved in a charity without salaried executives or expenses really being taken. It means that 99% of income gets spent for the benefit of others. There are plenty of great charities like this. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have a lot of things that the homeless may appreciate. Short of approaching someone on the street where would I take them?
Food bank?"
Or shelters or missions. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business |
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"Off the back of the kids company thread ,
It is my opinion the cause behind all charities are extremely worthy
I would love to contribute more
However it is also my opinion that most charities are poorly run and too much money does not reach the intended cause
What would you suggest is the most efficient method of ensuring the money donated arrives to the intended ?"
First off I'm a firm believer in charity starts at home and this is something that we fail to miss. Unfortunately it's not the charities that help those closest to us that get publicity. Do you see ads for local charities helping local causes on tv? Usually the answer is no.
Not all charities are for a good cause. Choosing wisely and carefully is very important. As I said aswell I'd be looking for charities closer to home and smaller charities where half the raised amounts don't go into running it.
I think sometimes depending on the charity itself donating things ie clothes,toiletries, non perishable goods is better than monetary donations.
I think it was mentioned above but what about setting up your own small charity that way you know where everything goes. It's slightly different but I run a small special Olympics club, obviously it's not a charity but we've to do a lot a fundraising. There is nothing more heart warming or gratifying then when you see how much your fundraising benefits them people's lives. My opinion is that running a small charity would have a similar effect. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business "
Did the charity also ensure homeless people had coats that weren't named brands (but still did the job, just would've sold for less in the shop)? Or did they sell everything and not hand over anything to the homeless?
If the first, then that's good sense, isn't it? Sell one North Face coat and purchase 10 normal coats at a reasonable price with the funds. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business
Did the charity also ensure homeless people had coats that weren't named brands (but still did the job, just would've sold for less in the shop)? Or did they sell everything and not hand over anything to the homeless?
If the first, then that's good sense, isn't it? Sell one North Face coat and purchase 10 normal coats at a reasonable price with the funds. "
For every £10 taken by a charity shop only £4 ends up at the sharp end helping people |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business
Did the charity also ensure homeless people had coats that weren't named brands (but still did the job, just would've sold for less in the shop)? Or did they sell everything and not hand over anything to the homeless?
If the first, then that's good sense, isn't it? Sell one North Face coat and purchase 10 normal coats at a reasonable price with the funds.
For every £10 taken by a charity shop only £4 ends up at the sharp end helping people "
That didn't answer what I asked  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business
Did the charity also ensure homeless people had coats that weren't named brands (but still did the job, just would've sold for less in the shop)? Or did they sell everything and not hand over anything to the homeless?
If the first, then that's good sense, isn't it? Sell one North Face coat and purchase 10 normal coats at a reasonable price with the funds.
For every £10 taken by a charity shop only £4 ends up at the sharp end helping people
That didn't answer what I asked "
No, the money went into the general charity fund so they sold them for £60 each so homeless person got £20 benefit - can you get a warn jAcket for 20 quid |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A story a few months ago (northface) had zips on wrong side due to production error so donated 100's of super warm outside coats to homeless charity
Did the charity hand them to homeless ??
No sold them in shops and reported that 6 of there BOD were on £200K plus per year
Big charities are just Business
Did the charity also ensure homeless people had coats that weren't named brands (but still did the job, just would've sold for less in the shop)? Or did they sell everything and not hand over anything to the homeless?
If the first, then that's good sense, isn't it? Sell one North Face coat and purchase 10 normal coats at a reasonable price with the funds.
For every £10 taken by a charity shop only £4 ends up at the sharp end helping people
That didn't answer what I asked
No, the money went into the general charity fund so they sold them for £60 each so homeless person got £20 benefit - can you get a warn jAcket for 20 quid "
Yeh course, mountain warehouse sells ski jackets for that at retail price. Cost price would be even lower. Anyway, sounds like you're guessing that's what happened with the funds, unless you have citations to prove otherwise. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Setting up your own charity isn't usually that efficient. The Charity Commission will encourage you to look at existing similar charities before you register a new one.
There are plenty of ways of being charitable without requiring a registered charity. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Off the back of the kids company thread ,
It is my opinion the cause behind all charities are extremely worthy
I would love to contribute more
However it is also my opinion that most charities are poorly run and too much money does not reach the intended cause
What would you suggest is the most efficient method of ensuring the money donated arrives to the intended ?
Volunteer your time.
Volunteering is in my opinion just as good as giving monies.
I do it c "
This is what I do for an animal support charity shop |
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"Gosh. A lot of people have very dim views of charities...
"
And if you have a problem with that:
.
Either:
* PAY MORE TAXES
Or:
* GET OFF YOUR BACKSIDE AND ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING
.
Yes, in an ideal world charities would be unneeded as the state would perform it functions properly, like looking after the needy (children, ill, elderly, disabled, poor, lost, disconnected, mad... your next door neighbour for all you know if you just stepped outside your comfortable life, away from the computer or the telly and actually took an interested in something other than yourself...).
But we don't live in an ideal world.
Put your money where your mouth is or keep your mouth shut.
imo
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